Black Bean Roasted Pepper Salsa Soup

This Black Bean Roasted Pepper Salsa Soup is deeply flavorful and incredibly satisfying with the addition of the roasted salsa. It’s a vegan soup that can be left as it is or dressed up with chunks of avocado, cheddar cheese, Ancho chips, Pico de Gallo or a dollop of sour cream.

This was a great weekend, to say the least. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Better Homes and Gardens regrammed my Blueberry Chevre Crostini with Champagne Vinegar Hibiscus Flowers on Instagram. As a food blogger, you spend so much time learning and practicing photography that when someone like BHG acknowledges one of your photos it feels like a really big deal. The same photo also won the best photo of the week from Haute Cuisine. I couldn’t be happier.

On another note, how was your 4th of July? Robby and I had a great weekend with Beto and clan. They arrived early Saturday afternoon to our house and we immediately headed to the beach to give the kids the opportunity release some of their excess energy. Robby and I had been preparing food for a couple days prior to their visit and when we got back from the beach we set up a taco bar full of all of the fixings. It was delicious! It also happened to be Beto’s birthday so Jill and Paloma decorated a Paloma designed cake after we finished dinner. It was an almond cake with dark chocolate frosting, white and dark chocolate tiles arranged like a checkerboard all topped with dinosaur shrinky dinks. It was one of the coolest cakes I have ever seen and it tasted divine!

After dinner, everyone was so tired that it ended up being an early night, which was good because the next day was jam packed full of adventures. In the morning, we loaded up our cars with all our bikes and headed to West cliff. We rode along the cliffs and down to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk where we stopped for lunch at a small cafe called The Picnic Basket. If you are in Santa Cruz and are looking for a phenomenal sandwich and salad spot, I can’t recommend this place enough! They have one of the best grilled cheese sandwich loaded with sharp white cheddar cheese. All of their produce is locally sourced. After we ate, we left our bikes locked up and walked over to the amusement park where we watched Paloma go on a few rides. She had so much fun! We then rode our bikes back to the car. We were all so tired and didn’t feel like cooking or cleaning, so we decided to go to Ella’s at the Airport for dinner. It was delicious as always. The next day was the 4th and we packed up our picnic food with some wine and kicked it on the beach for quite a while before Beto and clan headed home.

This soup pairs really well with a Rosé Sancerre, White Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc or a Soave.

Black Bean Roasted Pepper Salsa Soup Recipe:

A delicious vegan and gluten free black bean soup.

8 – 10 Servings

2 1/2 Cups Dried Black Beans

10 + 5 Cups Filtered Water

1 Yellow Bell Pepper – roasted – diced

2 Red Bell Peppers – roasted – 1 diced – 1 pureed

2 Poblano Peppers – roasted – 1 diced – 1 pureed

5 Tomatillos – roasted – pureed

2 Large Heirloom Tomatoes – 1 roasted/pureed – 1 diced

1/2 White Onion – cut in half – roasted – pureed

1 Jalapeno – roasted – pureed

2 Cloves Garlic – minced

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice – fresh squeezed

1 Tablespoon Ancho Powder – freshly ground or pre-ground

1 Tablespoon Paprika

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Cumin

1/2 Cup Cilantro – minced

1 Cup Corn – fresh or frozen – charred (charring is optional)

1 Tablespoon + 2 Teaspoons Sea Salt or to taste

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Ancho chips

1 Whole Wheat Tortilla (or your choice)

2 Teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Teaspoon Ancho Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Garnish options:

Instructions:

Black Beans

In a 5 1/2 quart pot, put a small hand full of beans in the pot at one at a time, making sure there are no rocks. Then rinse the beans and add the 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium-high heat for approx. 45 minutes or until water starts to evaporates and add the remaining 5 cups of water as needed then cook for another 45 minutes or longer, continuing to check on water levels.

* Add sea salt AT THE END or they will be tough.

* It depends on how old the beans are as to how long it will take to cook, older beans can take longer.

* If you have a problem with gas after eating beans. Try soaking dried beans in water for at least six to eight hours before cooking to reduce gas formation. Or place beans in a saucepan with cold water, cover and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit for an hour. Turn the stove to medium-high heat for about an hour or until beans are soft.

Roast the tomatillos, tomato, onion and jalapeno.

Turn oven to broil. Core the tomatillos and tomato and cut in half then place on a baking sheet. Cut the onion half in half and place on the baking sheet along with the jalapeno. Place the baking sheet on the top rack for 6 minutes then flip for 2 more minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool.

Roasted peppers

Roast the poblano and bell peppers on the stovetop on medium-high heat. A gas stove works the best but it will work fine on an electric stove. Char the peppers on all sides turning with a pair of tongs. When good and charred, steam them for 10 minutes in a covered dish or a paper bag rolled shut to hold in the steam.

Take a paper towel and rub off the char. It’s ok to leave a little of the char. Slice in half, remove the seeds and stems. Set aside the 1 poblano and 1 red bell pepper for the salsa and dice the rest.

Corn (optional)

Turn oven onto broil

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the corn in a single layer. Place on the top rack for 5 minutes.

Health benefits:

Black beans are high in cholesterol lowering dietary fiber, 1 cup of cooked beans provides you with over 1/2 of your daily requirements and reduces blood cholesterol that helps prevent heart disease. The fiber supports the digestive tract and the colon, which helps constipation, diverticulitis, and other gastrointestinal disorders. They also maintain normal blood sugar levels, helping to prevent diabetes. Black beans are a very good meat substitute because of their 15 grams of protein in 1 cup and contain only trace amounts of saturated fat and no cholesterol. They contain phytochemicals, substances found only in plant foods that help fight cancer and other chronic diseases. They increase energy with the good amounts of iron in them and have more antioxidant activity than other types of beans. They neutralize cell-damaging free radicals that may help lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Black beans are also rich in B vitamins, Folate, potassium (helps regulate your blood pressure and heart rate), magnesium, calcium (builds and maintains bones) and other heart-healthy nutrients.

Bell Peppers have more nutrition as they mature. They are super high in vitamin A which helps to support healthy eyesight, especially night vision and are extremely high in vitamin C, so much so they have twice as much as an orange which makes it really good for the skin. Red peppers are one of the highest veggies in lycopene and have been successfully tested in the prevention of many cancers. They have a good source of the antioxidant mineral manganese and B-complex and vitamin E. They help reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol, helps controls diabetes and helps reduce pain. They are also a good source of fiber, folate, vitamin K, molybdenum and manganese.